The Vessel
by Tuna Bites
Summary: Lily has always been rather level headed. However, after an unusual parachuting accident, she finds herself inside one of her favourite books... and is now an upper being's vessel... in the strangest way possible. CHAPTER TWO IS UP! finally!
1. Chapter 1

**The Vessel**

Chapter One

_What have I gotten myself into this time_, thought Lily, mentally scolding herself, as she lay, facing the clear blue sky flat on her back.

Lily had always been a very bright girl. She had gotten into several selective high schools, of course. However, she had a tendency to lack a certain amount of common sense when doing something she labelled as 'awesome' and others labelled as 'downright reckless'.

"_Mum, I'm off, I'll see you after school," Lily yelled frantically, grabbing a piece of toast that had just flown out of the toaster, swinging her bag over her shoulder and racing out the front door, not bothering to close it behind her._

It's just like me to be late today_, Lily thought humorously as she ran up the hill as usual. Lily was always late. It wasn't because she wasn't an early bird, but more due to the fact that she lived several hours away from school, and she was required to get up at latest four thirty._

_However, Lily liking getting her sleep, had slept till six, meaning she'd get to school at ten._

I had been doing so well. First time late this week. Even with those morning detentions…

Oh. I forgot.

I had detention today as well.

Oops.

_But worse, she had her first HSC examination, high school certificate. It was only for French, and it was the only exam she had for another two years, only being in year ten, but still. _

_It was now quarter to seven. Barely panting, (she'd been doing this run five times a week for the last four years) Lily glanced sheepishly down at her jeans and shirt. In her haste to get to school, she'd forgotten to wear her school uniform. But at the moment Lily wasn't all that concerned with the school dress code._

More like how much shit I'll be in when I get to school.

_In fact, Lily should have been expelled years ago, if it weren't for her outstanding test results. Combining being late every day, about once a week an hour late even, and the mischief she pulled, without managing to get flown out of Australia for both academic and sporting reasons, she would have had to long since find a new school._

Honest, the pail-of-water-hung-over-the-door-with-a-string-to-upend-it-on-the-first-person-to-walk-through-the-doorway wasn't intended for the principal.

_When Lily finally got to the bus stop, she stopped dead, seeing a newspaper reading, 'Bus Drivers Go on Massive Strike!'_

_The emotions Lily felt at that moment were rather unusual, one might say. She was torn between marching up to the nearest government official and shouting every swear word in her vocabulary at him or beating the storekeeper of the newsagent, which had the newspapers on display to an inch of his life._

_She settled with swearing viciously, thinking loosing her cool couldn't be good for her record._

I can just see the headlines. Outraged Fifteen Year Old Girl Half Kills Newsagent Due To Bus Driver Strike Causing Her to Miss French HSC Exam.

Front page material, isn't it?

_It was perhaps why she didn't notice that her feet were carrying her to the local parachuting site, a place that she visited often, mainly because of her love of adrenaline rush._

_She only stopped her cursing when a familiar voice broken through her musings and said, "Lily? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" It was Joel, who worked there full time. Lily knew him quite well, having gone there for a couple of hours after school since she had been ten. Training was required to be able to go on the parachute runs, more if she wanted to go on the highest one. Training included having to be able to climb a fifty metre rope-_

Don't ask.

_- be very flexible, be fit-_

Duh.

_-etc…_

"_Bus drivers went on strike," Lily replied, now grinning, seeing the humour even in this situation, "So in approximately…" Lily checked her watch. It read seven thirty. "An hour and fifteen minutes, I'll be missing my French HSC. Think you could get me onto the Sling?"_

_Joel shook his head, unable to keep a straight face. Lily had that effect on people. She was awfully easygoing, but for some strange reason, in school, she didn't have a whole lot of friends. (_Probably scared that the teachers will hate her for it. God knows they detester her, _Joel though ironically) she knew was friends with her, unless they were cruel, or angered her. Lily was definitely an easygoing person, but when she lost her temper, she was, in Joel's opinion, dangerous. She also held grudges for a very long time._

"_You're certainly a piece of work," Joel remarked. "Only you would want to go parachuting after finding out you're about to miss your French HSC."_

_Lily raised her hands, grinning, totally at ease with the_

_He reached under the desk and pulled out a harness that was 'Lily Size' and thrust it at her. Lily's smile broadened, and she stepped into the harness, not caring too much at the time about what she was going to do when she went back to school._

If everyone lived in the future, then no one would enjoy life, _Lily thought, _I'll deal with the principal later.

_Joel beckoned for her to follow him, and she did so slowly, hopping on one foot, trying to follow him and put the harness on at the same time. Needless to say, it wasn't working all too well._

Hey, I was impatient!

_Finally Lily managed to tighten the harness around her waist and followed Joel through a door, and outside. _

_Lily's home was in the mountains, right at the top of one. This meant that the parachuting was incredibly dangerous and, in Lily's opinion, hysterically awesome._

Fun just can't measure up to it, _Lily mused. _

_Making idle chatter with her, Joel fastened her to the parachute to her harness, and looked up, "Wind's picked up a bit. You sure you still want to go through with this?"_

_Lily's smile widened if possible. "All the more exciting," she said, before waving and a, "See ya later."_

_Then she jumped._

_It started like a normal parachuting run. Lily free fell for about twenty metres, before the parachute gathered enough wind resistance force to slow it down. The wind caught hold of the parachute and pushed her over into a ravine. Lily wasn't particularly worried. It had happened before now, and she knew the place unexpectedly well._

Well, I had to do something until the search party found me, _thought Lily as she unbuckled her harness._

_Thing was, Lily was still suspended ten feet in the air, and consequently, fell ten feet._

_Or should have fallen ten feet._

_Because what actually happened, was that Lily found herself falling into a big, black tornado like thing._

Man that's weird, _she thought, and curled up into a defensive ball; she didn't want to know what might hit her while in the vortex._

So now Lily was here. Flat on her back, watching the clouds float by. She was to exhausted and sore to move… willingly, in any case.

Lily let her eyes flutter shut and opened up her senses. She found this was the key to going to sleep.

She let herself feel the hard dirt track she was laid upon, she smelt the fresh air, and the cool wind. Thinking half dazedly to herself, she'd never been anywhere with such fresh air, and she listened, hearing a faint pounding of horses hooves coming from a distance away, and growing louder…

_What? Rewind and pause, _Lily thought, _Horses hooves?_

Lily could feel the ground trembling. Judging by the speed of the hammering, she guessed that they- whoever they _were_- were trotting.

She just lay there, eyes shut, using her other senses to confirm that the horses- and their riders, presumably, were drawing closer. She knew that if she didn't move, it was likely that she would be trampled, but she was so tired she didn't really care.

Later, she presumed she must have drifted off, because next thing she knew, she was being drawn into full consciousness, and there were several people leaning over her. Three to be exact.

Before she reacted, she took in how they were dressed.

They were dressed in what she recognised as chain mail, with blue and silver elongated sleeveless shirts that went don to the upper thighs and had a leather belt around where the waist would be, and had a strange sort of white… cloak. Lily was sure she knew that… well, uniform, even though she had never _seen _it before…

_Shit, _Lily thought in sudden realization. She didn't know how she could have forgotten! It was only in one of her favourite books!

From as far as she could tell, she had been transported into the Tortall Realm.

**A/N OK, it's not my first fiction, but it's my first try in Tamora Pierce! I think this'll be set in Squire, or maybe Lady Knight, but Lily will be around Kel's age, give or take a few years. And no, she's not going to become a knight. I know this is an overused plot, but this will be different, I swear! I was more setting the scene in this chapter, but I was thinking that I'd put a vote in each chapter, so for this chapter it'll be…**

**Should there be any pairings with Lily in it?**

**If yes, who?**

**I'll just jot a few faves down here.**

**Dom (drool)**

**Neal**

**Some random knight friend of Kel's**

**Some other random soldier etc…**

**And**

**Any1-Who-Has-Not-Been-Catagorized-Above!**

**So, peoples, REVIEW! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N OK, this chapter is dedicated to Swapneshwari for being my first reviewer, and for being so supportive of this story! Thankyou soooooooo much!**

**Oh, and I thought of this really weird acrostic poem, and I have to put it down here!**

**Domitan**

**Of**

**Masbolle**

**See! It's an acrostic poem!**

**Omg, that was PATHETIC!**

**Ugh, I'll shut up now.**

**The Vessel**

Chapter Two

Lily blinked.

She blinked again.

The reality of the situation hadn't sunk in. She _knew _she was in Tortall, where the King's Own existed, but it wasn't registering emotionally that she was in a book.

Or the whole weirdness of the situation.

_Oh…_

…_my…_

…_g-_

"Captain Glaisdan! She's awaking!"

With a jolt, Lily realized, as though for the first time, that she was in the book. _First I need to accept it, _she thought grimly, _and _then_ I can deal with the situation._

So Lily was in the book. She'd have to find out what year it was, and tell someone. She couldn't deal with this on her own. The emotional pressure would be just too much. It would kill her.

But the full blow had yet to come.

Lily had thought she'd be overjoyed at being in Tortall, and, at a hopeful guess, at about the same time as Kel, if she was in luck. Which would be a strange thing, because Lily had the strangest luck of anyone she knew.

_Well, I am in TORTALL, of all places, _she thought to herself, with a hidden smirk, _that has to count as totally bizarre. _

The heads that had been leaning over her vanished, and instead a rather ugly man, dressed in a sick colour of yellow and silver armor, came into Lily's view. "Who are you," he sneered, an expression of great disdain on his face. Lily didn't think she like this man at all.

"'Name's Lily," Lily said, with false cheer, hiding her fear and confusion with a friendly smile on her face.

The man in the ugly armour- whoever he was- scowled down at her. "And Miss Lily, what would you be doing lying in the middle of the Conté Road at midday?" he said, with an air of great superiority. Lily found this rather disturbing.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Lily answered charmingly, with a perfected innocent expression. The man-in-the-ugly-armour's scowl deepened.

_Geez, what an old sleazebag, _Lily mused, _I wonder whether he's married. I pity the poor girl._

"Are you aware that you are addressing Captain Glaisdan of Haryse, commander of First Company, who's family is in The Book of Gold?" the man spat.

_Now I remember, _Lily realized, _he's the guy who treats anyone below the book of Silver like dirt! Wasn't he killed by Scanran raiders in Kel's fourth year as a squire? Must be before that then._

"I obviously am now," Lily said, not really caring that she was being very disrespectful. _This guy doesn't deserve any respect, _Lily decided defiantly.

Suddenly his manner changed, and with a burst of horror as she comprehended his words as, "Tut, tut. How rude of you. I think a pretty thing like you should pay for it in _bed._"

_What the HELL!_

He'd seen the look of pure horror and shock glimmer on her face, and an evil smirk, completely unlike the evil expressions that would merge up on Lily's face when she thought of a plan that would completely humiliate the principal because she had given Lily another weeks detention, started to work it's way over his face.

"Oh yes," he said very softly, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I'd rather _die_," Lily spat out with feeling, trying to get away from him, but she was still too sore.

"Bind her in rope. Gag her, too."

Glaisdan spoke to a couple of men this time, and had stopped his… suggestive comments.

_The bastard._

Lily was kicked onto her back and dragged up by the collar of her shirt. If she hadn't felt so weak and drained, she would have fought, but suddenly, another wave of dizziness overcame her and she relented, and stopped fighting.

_I never used to give up, _was Lily's last thought before she sank into a dimension of sleep.

Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak was not in a good mood.

His squire, Keladry of Mindelan, was aware of that, and consequently staying as far away from him as possible.

When in a bad temper, he could be rather… dangerous.

His mood was not improved when he saw from the window of his office, he saw First Company trotting in. He was not particularly fond of Glaisdan, and, truth be told, did not trust him at all. He felt that Haryse was cruel to those who had no authority over him, and couldn't damage his reputation.

The door of his office opened, and of all people, the king stepped in. This was not an unusual occurrence for the knight commander, and Raoul merely stretched his cramped legs and addressed his majesty, "Good afternoon, Sire. What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"I want you to welcome Captain Glaidsan and First Company back to the palace," King Jonathon said without hesitation, in a clear, strong, determined voice.

Raoul raised his eyebrows. Jonathon rarely made such rigid orders.

But Raoul, who would normally argue against such a demand, was not in the mood to argue. He said with barely hidden sarcasm, "As you command, Majesty," and left the room without another word.

King Jonathon watched the infamous knight leave the room, before letting himself collapse into a chair, eyes half closed. It was not the first time his gift had given him a vision, but never before had it been so vivid, or felt so urgent. A flurry of scenes had blurred past, but these were the only ones that had Jon had been able to catch.

_A girl was unconscious, and seemed to be on a dirt path, flat on her back. She was extremely tan, for a girl, and had long straight chestnut-brown hair, that was spread around her face._

_The girl- whoever she was- was bound in rope, gagged, and in a caravan. She was now conscious, and seemed to be very deep in thought. _

_Lord Raoul was untying the girl, who seemed to have been attacked, with a large bruise on one side of her face and her arms, wrists still, bent at a very painful looking angle. She had lost consciousness again, and Captain Glaisdan of Haryse, the commander of first company was unconscious, slumped, on the ground._

_The girl was crying, arms around knees. Now the King could see that her eyes were light green-blue, with a dark blue ring around them which attracted attention. Her body was shuddering with sobs and her hair fluttering with the wind._

_The girl was picking the locks of a younger girl, and with a spasm of horror, Jonathon recognised her as Princess Lianne. _

_The girl was dressed in an overlarge uniform of the King's Own. She was mounted on a lively chestnut, and was talking cheerfully to whom Jon recognised as a sergeant from the King's Own, when an arrow suddenly grazed past her cheek, the girl twisting to avoid it killing her._

_Then, on a lake of black water, two, solitary water lilies floated, creating ripples. A voice carried out across the pool, a female voice, saying, "This is what you must put in motion, or Tortall will pay the price." _

_Good luck, Raoul, _King Jonathon thought, _if anyone can figure this out, you can._

The wagon swayed, and Lily lay limp, not bothering to fight against the ropes that bound her wrists behind her back and ankles. Her gag- which was a white hankerchief, tied behind her head in a knot- was slowly being gnawed through as she subconsciously tried to bite her lip, as she lay, deep in thought.

_Is this for real?_

It took a lot longer than an outsider would have thought to accept the truth. She loved the story! Any other fan of the book would _die _to go into the realm of Tortall, and meet _any _of the characters, good or evil! Minor or major! Even maybe a- a _rapist _like Glaisdan!

But those other fans weren't Lily.

_I'd never say it to their face, but they do kind of have a screw loose._

But Lily was a very down-to-earth kind of girl. She knew who she was, what she wanted, and would do almost anything that didn't go against her morals to get it. She knew what was possible, she knew what she didn't _know_ was possible, and would never solely base her reaction on science.

But as accepting as Lily was, she didn't want to accept the fact she had been somehow transported into a _book._

She also didn't want to accept that a commander of the King's Own wanted her to… to...

_I'm a virgin and proud of it! What d'you think I am, some kind of… whore? Slut?_

_If that's what you're lookin' for, buddy, you got the wrong girl._

There wasn't a voice in her head saying, _I can't be in a book, it's scientifically impossible._

There was, however, a voice, going, _Have I gone nuts?_

But it took a surprisingly short amount of time for Lily to dismiss this. She couldn't be insane, because insane people wouldn't think that they were insane or consider the possibility that she was insane, therefore, she was perfectly sane.

None of this made much sense to Lily, but that was what her instincts told her.

And she trusted her instincts.

_That _was when it sank in.

Her eyes widened in horror as thoughts raced thoughts her head, _No, please no, let it be a dream, I don't know what to do, I'm scared. What do I do? I have no money, I have no contacts, they'll think me crazy, he wants to _rape _me WHAT DO I DO!_

But dreams never hurt, and this time, her only help was;

_Take it as it comes._

Lily jutted her chin out resolutely. She would get through this. She had never been a pessimist, and would remain optimistic about the situation.

The gag suddenly fell off. Lily looked down at it in surprise. It looked like she had managed to gnaw through it.

_Oh well. Their loss._

The wagon suddenly jolted to as stop, and Lily suddenly became totally alert, listening for any sign of anyone coming to fetch her.

_Or the bastard-son-of-a-bitch-man-whore Glaisdan coming to get me._

She could hear her heart thumping in her chest, seemingly determined to rip itself out. he fought the hysterics that struggled to rise. Barely managing to keep them contained, she rolled onto her stomach and managed to get on her knees.

_OK, keep it cool, you can do this Lils…_

_WHO AM I KIDDING!_

Lily mentally scolded herself. She'd almost lost it then. She wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer…

She didn't know how long she'd sat there, reflecting about nothing in particular, when she heard a male voice, pitched over the noise with an ease she'd thought was impossible.

"Welcome back, First Company! Enjoy the luxuries of the palace while you can!"

_That guy would make a really good what-cha-ma-call-it, _Lily mused, _That add guy, who advertises… radio thingy! You know, the guy who… _

_Actually, forget it._

_Wonder who he is, anyway._

_1, 2, 3 Hey!_

_That rhymed!_

_...God, that was PATHETIC! _

A stiff voice- nowhere near as loud, but it was coming from just outside the caravan so Lily could hear it easily anyway- went stiffly, "Good afternoon, my lord."

Lily recognised it as Captain Glaidsan's voice, even though she had only heard it once before in her life. This was strange, because usually, Lily couldn't remember _anything_, if she hadn't heard it half a thousand times

_C'mon, Lily, do something. FAST!_

And before she could stop herself, she had thrown herself as hard as she could at the cloth flap that cut her off from view.

The flap had not been tied down, just tucked in, and Lily found herself flying, headfirst, towards the ground.

After all those sessions that she had been dragged along to for kickboxing, it was reflex.

She curled into a ball and tucked her head in, landing on her shoulders and rolling. The impact hurt. There was no doubt about that. She'd never hit such a hard surface with so much force.

But she hadn't broken her neck.

_Always a plus, in my book._

She rolled, her hands getting caught under her and being twisted painfully behind her back. But she didn't seem to be seriously injured and let herself flop down, flat on her back.

The sudden movement had drawn everyone's attention. She thought this good, because Glaisdan couldn't exactly rape her in front of about a hundred men.

'_Course, he might be nutty enough to try… can somebody give him a good knee in the nuts from me?_

_Pleeeaase?_

She found her looking at a perfectly blue sky, a single cloud floating involuntarily by, drawn like the wind.

_It's just like me. I haven't had a choice in what's been happening. _

A hand with a iron grasp seized her upper arm in a grip so tight that it hurt, hauling her to her feet. Her arms were jerked backwards and upwards, forcing out a gasp of pain from Lily as she heard a nasty snap as fire exploded in her right arm.

The fire didn't go away. Lily shut her eyes tightly and bit her lip, forcing herselfnot to shriek her head of at the pain in her arms. An odd ringing sound filled her ears, she felt something strike a blow to her face.

_God damn it girl, protect yourself!_

Lily's eyes snapped open. She couldn't move her arms, and her ankles were tied together, but she wasn't helpless!

Taking her weight on her two feet, tied together or not, Lily jumped, and, while arching her back, tucked up her knees and slammed her feet into the man behind him. Her shoes connected with hard metal-

_Must be plate armour. But scrap that. What the hell are you doing?_

The man, Glaisdan it seemed, howled with pain, and let Lily go. She lost her balance and fell flat on her face, closing her eyes to protect them from the impact.

_Whatever. It worked, I guess._

Lily struggled to get to her knees, eyes jammed shut, but her arm was now hurting more than ever, and her throat had started to hurt.

_No I won't cry. I won't! _

_BLOODY HELL, IS CHILD ABUSE LEGAL HERE!_

_Wait, I just turned fifteen. Am I still considered a child?_

_God this sucks!_

There was shouting. Lots of noise and chaos. Lily had blocked it out, for the shredded remnants of her sanity. But now she let it in, trying to find an anchor so that she wouldn't just give up.

"Shh, I am going to untie you," a calm and collected voice was saying gently. Lily could taste the blood from biting her lip. "Try not to move your arms."

She opened her eyes.

Her vision swam, and she was almost consumed by the black that threatened to overtake her with a wave of exhaustedness. Fighting off the urge to collapse, she forced herself to see.

_Whoa… he's really tall…_

A giant of a man, much taller than Lily, who stood proudly at five foot six.

_Well, in my three-inch platforms at least._

His short cut black-brown hair curled tightly at the nape of his neck, and dark brown eyes looked down at her critically.

The blackness had come back, and her vision slowly fading, she had one last though.

_Aww, screw it._

Lily fainted.

**A/N **

**I'm not going to try to apologize, and I know It's been ages, but…**

**SORRY!**

**I will _try_ to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! I swear it! **


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